


The Jupiter Trials

by ArtemisFrimm



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Awesome Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason hits his head a lot, Pre-HOO, jeyna, jeyna friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2020-01-07 08:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18406799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisFrimm/pseuds/ArtemisFrimm
Summary: Jason Grace has been longing for a quest for as long as he can remember. But when one finally comes his way, he realizes he may be in a bit over his head. Follow Jason and Reyna on their first quest in the years leading up to the war with the Titans.





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

> I started posting this story on FF.com, but figured I'd post it here as well since fanfiction has been kind of dead. Hope you enjoy.  
> ~AF

Jason never dreamed. This was fairly unusual for demigods. Most demigods dreamt about upcoming quests, or about monsters, or about traumas from their past. But Jason never dreamed. Every night for as long as he could remember, he would go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning with absolutely no recollection of any sort of dream. He didn’t even have the normal, boring mortal dreams like dreams of flying or dreams about being caught in public in his underwear. It irked him above all else.

His friends in the Fifth Cohort would often talk about their dreams before they went on amazing quests, and his peers would talk about visions of their godly parents or patrons. But he never had a dream, and he never had a quest. He had been at camp longer than almost anyone, but he had still never been chosen for a quest. He blamed it on his lack of dreams. If he would just have a dream, maybe then he would have a quest.

So, on the evening of June 30th, when Jason had his first dream, he was ecstatic.

He dreamt he was in Rome. At first, he thought it was in New Rome, the architecture, the atmosphere, it all felt like New Rome, but he realized this place was more ancient; more powerful. He stood outside of a temple perched on top of a hill that overlooked the city below. The sun was setting, and Roman citizens walked about the streets, many returning to their homes for the night.

An inscription was carved into the marble detailing above the entrance: _Templum Iovis—_ Temple of Jupiter. Jason’s heart raced. He wondered if his father would actually be speaking to him. He’d never heard anything from his father. Even when he was brought to camp, his father never claimed him. Lupa had simply brought him to camp and declared him the son of Jupiter.

He walked into the dark temple. A larger-than-life (he assumed) statue of Jupiter sat on a massive marble throne that rose to the ceiling. Jupiter’s stone eyes stared coldly ahead, and Jason wondered briefly if he was supposed to present an offering or say some magic words.

“No magic words required.” A voice spoke from behind the statue, causing Jason to jump. A tall woman in dark robes emerged from behind Jupiter’s throne, and Jason had an instinctive feeling that he should kneel.

The woman smiled, but her smile didn’t meet her eyes. “I’m glad to see you haven’t inherited your father’s manners.” The woman said, “You may stand, hero.”

Jason rose unsteadily to his feet and tried to recognize the woman in front of him. “You’re Juno.” He said, “Aren’t you?”

“I am.” She said evenly.

Jason shifted uncomfortable, “Look, um, I don’t mean it in a bad way, but why are you here? You’re not here to kill me, right?”

Juno laughed not unkindly, “No, Jason. I am not here to kill you. I am here to give you this.”

She tossed Jason a gold coin. He caught the coin easily. On one side was an eagle, the symbol of Jupiter and the word IVLIVS, on the other side was a lightning bolt. “Uh, thanks?” Jason said, unsure what he was supposed to do with a coin.

“Flip it in the air and catch it.” Juno instructed.

Jason did as he was told, but as the coin flipped in the air, it turned into a sword made of Imperial Gold. Jason caught the sword easily, amazed at how balanced it felt, almost as if it had been made specially for him. He tossed the sword into the air, and it returned to the coin. “That’s incredible!”

“It is a special weapon. A birthday present from your father. If the coin is flipped on heads, it will become a sword, tails it will become a lance.” Juno explained.

“Juno, I can’t thank you enough.” Jason said, “But if this is a dream, how can I use it?” he asked, still marveling at the coin.

Juno stared at him evenly, “Let’s find out. Wake, hero.”

Jason instantly woke up. Sunlight streamed through the windows of the Fifth Cohort barracks. He reached into the pocket of his pajama pants and pulled out the coin from his dream. He grinned, and flipped the coin, watching as it transformed into a lance.

“Whoa.” Dakota stared at him blearily from his bunk. A serious cowlick made his hair stand up in the back of his head, and his mouth was still stained from his Kool-Aid from the night before. “Where’d you get that?” he asked.

Jason told him about his surprise visit from Juno as the boys got dressed and headed to the canteen for breakfast.

“That’s crazy, man.” Dakota said. “Maybe you’ll finally get your first quest after all.”

“That would be probably my best birthday present ever.” Jason grinned.

“Definitely better than the surprise party Gwen and I had planned for you.” Dakota said, already on his second glass of Kool-Aid.

Jason’s grin grew wider, “Surprise?”

“Damn it, Dakota you dummy. Did you just spoil the secret?” Gwen asked, joining them at the table.

“Relax, I didn’t tell him about the party.” Dakota said. Gwen stared at him in exasperation as realization dawned in Dakota’s eyes. “Uh, it’s not a party for you.” Dakota said, trying to backpedal, “It’s for uh… another Jason.”

Gwen smacked her forehead and groaned, “Dakota we were so close.” But Jason just laughed. His friends remembered his birthday, and they even planned a surprise party for him. As he went about his day, he thought that nothing could ruin his mood. In his combat class, he easily beat his classmates, his new sword making combat even easier for him. Not even Octavian could bother Jason today.

After lunch he sat with the rest of the Fifth Cohort at the campsite outside of the barracks. Charlie Taylor, the Fifth’s senior officer had bought Jason a cake, and even the praetors had stopped by to wish him a happy birthday. They had just finished singing happy birthday, when a messenger ran to the campground out of breath. “Praetors!” she shouted.

“Maggie, what’s wrong?” Praetor Lee asked the girl as she approached.

“There… there’s a new… a new demigod!” she huffed. The praetors quickly ran off to the Little Tiber to meet the new recruit. Jason looked at his friends, who shrugged and followed the crowd to catch a glimpse at the new camper.

At the edge of the river was a girl, who couldn’t have been older than twelve, fending off three humanoid monsters with razor-sharp tusks protruding from their heads. She was tall and slender with light brown skin and long black hair pulled into a messy braid down her back. She looked exhausted. She had a few cuts on her arms and legs from where the monsters had apparently gotten her with her tusks, and strands of her black hair had come loose from her braid.

“Shouldn’t someone help her?” Jason asked. But the campers seemed to be in awe. The girl fought with the fierceness of a wild animal, as she slashed through two of the monsters with an iron sword. But while the girl was distracted, the third monster charged at her, knocking her under the water.

The praetors, Lee and Aurelia broke out of their stupor and rushed into the water to help the girl. Miraculously, the girl had managed to slay the third monster without more than a shallow cut on her cheek.

The praetors helped the girl out of the water, and somebody ran over with a towel to give her. She was young, but her dark eyes held had a fierce gaze, like she dared anyone try to challenge her. Despite being drenched and almost drowned by a monster, she held herself very regally, like she was very aware of her power.

“Who are you?” Lee asked, once they reached the river bank.

“My name is Reyna. I was trained by the wolf Lupa. She sent me here.” The girl said. She had the slightest hint of an accent that Jason couldn’t place.

“Are you a demigod then?” Aurelia asked.

“Yes.” Reyna answered.

“And who is your godly parent?”

At that, Reyna’s strong façade flickered for just a second, but she regained her composure so quickly, it hardly showed. “I don’t know.” She said.

Aurelia and Lee exchanged looks and seemed to reach some sort of nonverbal agreement. “Very well, Reyna. Come with us. We have a few more questions to ask you.” Lee said, before turning his attention back to the crowd, “Everyone return to your posts.”

“Wow.” Dakota said, “That was pretty dope.”

Jason didn’t know why, but he felt a twinge of annoyance, “It wasn’t that impressive.”

Gwen gave him an incredulous look, “She took on three fully grown Aeternae by herself and got away with just a scratch.” She said, “I’d say that’s pretty impressive for a demigod that young.”

Jason frowned, “I could’ve taken them.” He said, unsure why he was so bothered by the new demigod.

“Yeah, but you’ve also been at camp since you were in diapers.” Dakota pointed out, “Besides, I think she could kick even your ass in combat if she wanted to.”

Jason scowled, ‘No she wouldn’t. She wasn’t that good.”

Gwen and Dakota shrugged, “Whatever you say Jason.” Gwen said with a small smirk, “Come on, let’s go cut your birthday cake.”

But Jason suddenly didn’t feel in a celebrating mood anymore.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

That night at assembly, the praetors called for attention. The new girl, Reyna stood behind them, looking completely indifferent to all of the eyes on her. She had cleaned up after her impromptu swim in the Tiber. Her black hair was neatly braided down her back, and the cut on her cheek had mostly faded. Instead of her old tee-shirt and shorts, she wore a purple Camp Jupiter shirt and dark jeans.

“Romans, as you already know, we have a new recruit. Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano wishes to join the legion. A flash of annoyance crossed Reyna’s face as Lee said her full name, but she quickly collected herself.

“That’s a mouthful to say.” Dakota whispered loudly. Gwen elbowed him in the ribs.

“What do the auguries say?” Aurelia asked Octavian.

“I have read the entrails.” Octavian said dramatically, “The auguries are favorable. She may join the legion.” He gave Reyna a cheeky grin, and Reyna narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

The campers shouted, “ _Ave hail_.” And the senior officers from each cohort stepped forward. Charlie Taylor, from the Fifth Cohort was the most senior officer in the camp, having been at camp even longer than Jason.

“Recruit, do you bring any credentials? Any letters of recommendation?” he asked.

Reyna shook her head, “No.”

“I wonder if the First will try to take her anyway.” Gwen whispered.

“I doubt Octavian would allow an unclaimed camper into the First.” Jason pointed out.

“I don’t know, the slimeball seems to be pretty interested in her.” Dakota said, nodding toward where Octavian stood. He was definitely watching Reyna closely, and it made Jason briefly feel bad for the new girl. Octavian had only come to camp two years ago, but he had quickly risen to power as auger and centurion of the First Cohort. He was sneaky, and conniving, and Jason had hated him from the moment he arrived at camp.

“I will stand for her.” Said Evander Jackson, a centurion from the Third Cohort.

Lee nodded, “Evander Jackson, you stand for the recruit. Does your cohort accept her?”

The members of the cohort banged their shields and spears on the ground.

“My cohort has spoken.” Evander said, “We accept the recruit.”

Aurelia turned to Reyna, “Congratulations, Reyna. You stand on _probatio_. You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year’s time, or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion, and defend the camp with honor. _Senatus Populusque Romanus_!”  The rest of the legion echoed her chant.

Reyna nodded once before going to join Evander and the rest of the Third Cohort.

“Maybe we should have tried to accept her.” Dakota said glumly, “We never get cool recruits.”

“What are we, chopped liver?” Jason asked.

“Might as well be.”

“She hasn’t even been claimed by her godly parent yet. She could have some super lame god as her parent.” Jason argued.

“With fighting skills like that?” Charlie said, joining them at the table, “doubtful.”

Jason scowled. _Why is everyone making such a big deal about her?_

“What’s go you so worked up anyway?” Dakota asked.

Gwen smirked, “Is wittle Jason jealous of Reyna?”

Jason almost spit out his drink. “Me? Why would I be jealous of her? I’m the son of Jupiter. What do I have to be jealous about?”

“Maybe the act that she’s the first person who could probably kick your ass in combat and she’s a girl and probably younger than you?” Dakota grinned, sipping his Kool-Aid.

“First of all, she would not kick my ass.” Jason growled, “Second, I don’t care if she’s a girl or younger than me. I just don’t like that everyone’s making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. She’s good with a sword. So what? Lots of demigods are.”

Gwen and Dakota exchanged looks like they didn’t believe him, but they dropped the topic. Jason had a feeling he was really not going to like Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.


	2. II.

The next day at combat class, Jason groaned when he saw Reyna there. He hadn’t seen her all day because they were in different classes, so he had almost forgotten about her. He didn’t know why, but something about her irritated him. Maybe it was because everyone seemed to be kissing the ground she walked on. Or maybe it was because she acted so indifferent to everything. Either way, Jason was really not looking forward to class with her.

“What is she doing here?” He whined. “Isn’t she supposed to start in the beginner class?”

“She did.” Charlie said, cleaning his sword, “This morning. She almost skewered her classmates, so the praetors allowed us to move her to the advanced class. She’s a good fighter. And I figured you two are close in size, so you could spar together. She may actually make you work for once.” Charlie smirked, “Now, go introduce yourself to your new partner.”

Jason scowled and stomped over to where Reyna was watching some of the older campers practicing their combat skills. She turned to face him when she noticed him approach, but her face didn’t betray any emotion.

Jason sighed “Hi, I’m Jason.” He said unenthusiastically.

“Reyna.” She replied smoothly.

“Yeah, I know.” Jason said.

Reyna’s black eyes narrowed ever so slightly, giving away the slightest hint of annoyance. “What do you want?” she asked coldly. She was already eyeing him up like she was looking for weaknesses.

“Charlie made me your sparring partner, so get up.” Jason said, flipping IVLIVS in his hand and turning it into a sword.

Reyna nodded her head slowly, then almost faster than Jason could react, she jumped to her feet and swung her sword at him.

Jason just barely managed to block her blow, but he quickly recovered and began to return her attack. She had a determined, almost feral grin on her face as their swords clashed. Her fighting style was different from typical Roman fighting, and as he blocked one of her strikes, Jason wondered where she had learned how to fight.

She swung to his left, and Jason prepared to parry, but at the last minute, she swung right, whacking his sword out of his hand with the butt of her sword. Jason blinked in surprise as she aimed her blade near his throat. “Yield.” She commanded quietly.

Jason reluctantly raised his hands, “Fine.”

Reyna didn’t gloat, but the slight smirk on her lips as she lowered her sword was enough to infuriate him. Jason glared daggers at her as members of her cohort congratulated her.

Dakota and Gwen were cracking up, and even Charlie was trying not to smile. “Dude—” Dakota wheezed.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Jason grumbled, picking up his sword and storming off to the baths.

Jason was still in a bad mood when dinner rolled around. “Dude just let it go. She beat you once. Who cares? That doesn’t mean you’re not a good fighter.” Dakota said as he chugged his Kool-Aid.

“I just don’t get it.” Jason said, “Where did she learn how to fight like that? It’s definitely not Roman.” He complained.

“Oh, you’re a hundred percent right.” Octavian said as he walked by the Fifth Cohort’s table.

Jason frowned, suspicious of the auger. “What are you implying, Octavian?”

Octavian shrugged casually, but Jason could tell he was working on some kind of scheme. “Well of course, when I read people’s auguries, I can learn a lot about them.” He shrugged again and took a bite out of his apple. He eyed Reyna as she entered the dining pavilion and began walking in their direction. 

“For example, I know that you’re absolutely correct. Our new recruit most definitely was not trained by Romans. Isn’t that right Reyna _Ramírez-Arellano_?”

Reyna paused, and Jason could see an emotion he couldn’t place cross her otherwise stoic face. “It’s just Reyna.” She said, “And I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her expression was calm, but Jason could hear the warning in her tone. Octavian clearly knew _something_ about Reyna that she didn’t want anyone else to know.

Octavian was unfazed, as a malicious smirk formed on his face. He obviously believed he had the upper-hand in whatever psychological battle they were waging. “Really, I would have thought living this close to the ocean would be a tough reminder.”

“Well, I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine.” Reyna said icily, turning to leave.

Octavian scowled, not ready to end their war. But he quickly smoothed his expression, “I guess you’re right. Still, I would imagine all of this would be a painful reminder of your time with the pi—“

Before Octavian could finish, Reyna tackled the skinny boy to the ground. She had her foot on his chest, holding him down, and her fist raised as if she were about to punch him in the face. When she spoke, her voice was deadly calm, and Jason realized in that moment Reyna would probably be a scary enemy to have.

“If you ever try to threaten me with my own past again, I will hit you so hard Apollo will feel it.” She said dangerously, “Got it?”

Charlie and Evander noticed the commotion and ran over, grabbing Reyna by each arm and pulling her off of Octavian. “Okay, we need to talk to the praetors.” Evander said, leading her out of the dining pavilion.

Charlie helped Octavian to his feet. The auger was fine, other than a bruised ego, but his eyes glistened coldly as he watched Evander lead Reyna out of the room. “My that was a bit aggressive. Maybe I read the auguries wrong with her.”

“What was that all about?” Jason asked. He didn’t really like Reyna, but he didn’t trust Octavian any more than he could throw him. And the boy seemed to know something big about Reyna.

“Well I guess she didn’t want me to tell you about how she was kidnapped by pirates.” Octavian’s eyes widened with feigned surprise as he revealed her secret, “Whoops.”

Jason’s jaw dropped, and judging by the other campers’ expressions, they were just as surprised has he was. “Wait, what?”

Octavian tried to look pained, but Jason knew it was an act. He loved creating drama. “Oh yes. Last year our poor Reyna and her sister were enslaved by Blackbeard and his pirates. I imagine that’s where she learned to fight.”

“Blackbeard, you mean _the Blackbeard_?” Jason asked incredulously, “You’re making that up.”

“I assure you, I’m not.” Octavian said, “I don’t quite understand it either, but the auguries don’t lie.”

Legion members began whispering amongst themselves, all marveling at Octavian’s story.

“Where’s her sister now?” Jason asked, “How did they escape?”

Octavian shrugged nonchalantly, but he was clearly thrilled by the excitement over his reveal. “Sadly, I don’t know. The only person who would be able to answer that question would be Reyna, but well… you saw.” He trailed off, as if to imply Reyna was the unstable one, even if it was Octavian that had baited her in the first place.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

Reyna followed Evander to the praetor’s office, wishing she was anywhere else in the world. She wondered if she would be kicked out of camp. She didn’t know where she would go if she was. She had run out of places to hide, and this time her sister wouldn’t be there to help her.

She knew she shouldn’t have let Octavian get the best of her. Lupa had warned her that she needed to control her anger, but Octavian had made her so mad. She had been on edge since she arrived at camp. First, she was chased by the Aeternae all the way from the Wolf House. Then Octavian had tried to make a pass at her after he read her auguries. Then there were the Lares everywhere. She knew that they weren’t mania. But the resemblance made her anxious.

She didn’t like the camp. She had believed if she sought out Lupa, her mother would help her. But her mother hadn’t even claimed her, and instead Hylla had left her. She had always hated living on CC’s island, but suddenly she’d give anything to be back there with her sister instead of at this stupid camp.

“You’ll have to talk to Lee and Aurelia.” Evander said, stopping outside of the praetor’s office. She couldn’t tell if he was mad or not. “Just tell them what happened. You’re new, so maybe they’ll cut you a break.”

Reyna nodded glumly, and Evander gave her a sympathetic look before leaving her waiting in the chair in front of the office. She didn’t know how long she sat there, but after a while, Lee and Aurelia returned.

They motioned for her to follow them into the office.

“You’ve been at camp for less than 24 hours and you’re already picking fights with our Auger. What happened?” Lee asked.

Reyna remained quiet with her head bowed. She didn’t want to explain herself to them.

“Did Octavian say something to you?” Aurelia asked gently.

“It’s nothing.” Reyna said. She didn’t want the praetors to fight her battles for her. “I over-reacted. It won’t happen again.”

The praetors looked at each other as if trying to decide what to make of Reyna’s answer. Finally, Aurelia said, “It’s always a bit of an adjustment for new campers. We can’t let you completely off the hook. You’ll do inventory of the storage shed tomorrow morning for the war games. Junius, one of our Lares, will show you how to do it.”

Reyna tried to not let her anxiety show. She really didn’t want to spend any alone time with any of the Lares, but she didn’t want to bring that up. Her fear was a weakness, and Romans don’t show weakness.

“Just know that an attack against a Roman is an attack on us all.” Lee warned sternly, “We’re giving you a warning now, but this sort of incident cannot happen again.”

Reyna nodded solemnly and excused herself from the praetors’ office. She hadn’t been kicked out of camp, but part of her was almost wishing she had been. She had thought she would find a home at camp, but it was clear this wasn’t the place. Hylla had been right. _Again._ And now Hylla had found a home without her. Reyna hadn’t had a chance to finish dinner, but she wasn’t feeling particularly hungry anymore. She didn’t want to interact with anyone, she just wanted to go to bed and forget about the day.


	3. III.

The next morning, Reyna woke up early and headed to the storage shed. The sooner she got started, the sooner she would be finished with her punishment. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to spend too much time with the Lar.

She waited outside of the storage shed for the Lar to arrive. There was a code on the door that prevented her from getting started early. It was nearly nine, and Reyna was getting anxious and hungry.

“Hello, you must be Reyna.” A voice spoke from behind her, making her jump.

She twirled around and found herself face-to-face with a translucent Roman wearing gladiator’s armor. She tried to swallow down the anxiety that was suddenly building up inside her. The Lar didn’t really resemble her father. This Lar seemed calmer, more fixed. When her father’s spirit had been consumed by the mania, it had made him twitchy and violent. The mania had felt malevolent.

“Hi.” Reyna said cautiously.

“Don’t be afraid, we Lares are mostly harmless.” The Lar said, “I’m Junius. I’m going to be advising you how to conduct inventory today.” He shook out his hand as if to shake Reyna’s, and she wasn’t sure if he was joking or if he had simply forgotten her hand would pass right through his.

Registering her shocked expression, he quickly lowered his hand, “Oh drat, I’m so sorry, I always forget about that. You know what they say, old habits die hard… unless you’re a Lar. Then you keep those habits forever.” He smiled like he had just made a funny joke.

 He frowned at Reyna’s startled expression. “Anyway, let’s get started shall we. Inventory’s pretty easy. All you have to do—” but before he finished his thought, he had passed through the locked door into the storage shed.

He must have realized Reyna wasn’t behind him, because he popped his head out of the door, with a mildly irritated expression, “Well what are you waiting out there for? Follow me, please.”

“The door’s locked.” Reyna said, feeling a little bit foolish over the interaction.

Junius’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He looked down at the lock. “Huh. Would you look at that.” He looked back at her. “Sorry, being a Lar takes some getting used to, I suppose.”

“How long have you been a Lar?” Reyna asked, trying to get over her jitters.

Junius thought for a moment, “I’d say maybe 2000 years or so. At any rate, the passcode to get in is 7-6-7-9.”

Reyna tried to hide her surprise as she typed in the passcode and followed the Lar into the storage shed. It looked like a regular storage shed, except instead of lawn-mowers or rakes, there were swords, shields, and spears.

“Wow.” Reyna said, marveling at the assortment of weapons.

“It’s not bad.” Junius said, “Unfortunately, it’s mostly Stygian Iron instead of Imperial Gold. Most of Camp Jupiter’s Imperial Gold weapons were lost in the Sea of Monsters and in Alaska.”

Reyna frowned, “Alaska?”

“Long, very tragic story. Don’t ask.” Junius said disdainfully.

“Nobody’s been able to reclaim the weapons?” Reyna asked.

“No. Both places are too dangerous. Alaska is beyond the realm of the gods, and the weapons lost in the Sea of Monsters have been scattered. Nobody knows where they are.” Junius explained, “So most of our weapons now are Stygian iron. It’s not ideal, but it does the trick in a pinch.”

She thought about Jason’s golden sword he used during their combat practice, “What about Jason Grace? How did he end up with an Imperial Gold weapon?”

The Lar smiled, “A gift from the gods. Jason’s the son of Jupiter. I imagine his father must have given it to him”

Reyna rolled her eyes. No wonder he had been such a sore loser. Junius chatted away as he showed her how to do inventory. It was pretty easy, and though the Lares still made her wary, she wasn’t quite as nervous.

“So, Miss Reyna, I must ask, is it correct to assume that we Lares are not the first spirits you’ve ever seen?” Junius asked after a while, “What sort of spirit did you encounter before coming here?”

Reyna felt her blood go cold as Junius watched her intently. She tried to school her expression. She wouldn’t let fear take hold of her. “A mania.” She answered.

“Ah.” He looked perturbed, “That’s quite unfortunate. Did you know the mania?”

Reyna felt numb, as she tried to block out the memories of her life in Puerto Rico. “He was my father.”

Junius watched her for a moment, and Reyna had a sudden instinct to bolt. She avoided the Lar’s gaze, instead focusing intently on her inventory list. She desperately wished the Lar would drop the conversation.

“I won’t pry into your personal business.” The Lar said slowly, “But just know that patricide is a serious crime in Rome. I won’t ask questions, but it’d serve you well to not discuss that sort of matter within camp boundaries.”

“He tried to kill my sister.” Reyna said, hating the way her voice shook.

“I’m not saying it wasn’t justified.” Junius said sadly, “I’m just saying it would be best to not discuss it while you’re here.”

Reyna nodded solemnly, feeling worse than she had the night before. Junius smiled at her sympathetically, “I think you’ve done enough for today. Go get some rest before the War Games tonight.”

Reyna didn’t really want to see anyone, but she figured she should probably eat something, so she took a deep breath and prepared to face her fellow campers.

As she entered the mess hall, she could feel her peers staring at her. She held her head high and ignored them. If they wanted to stare she wouldn’t let it bother her. She grabbed her food and made her way over to her cohort’s table. Her table mates instantly went quiet.

“Am I interrupting something?” Reyna asked icily as she spread jam onto her toast.

The camper sitting next to her was a girl around Reyna’s age. The girl eyed Reyna’s butter knife nervously, like she was afraid Reyna was going to start stabbing her with it. The boy sitting next to the camper elbowed the girl in the ribs like he wanted her to say something.

The girl glared at him before turning back to Reyna, “We were just wondering, um…” she cleared her throat, “We were wondering if you were really Blackbeard’s slave?”

Reyna felt a flash of rage rush through her, but she quickly schooled her features, remembering what the praetors had told her yesterday. She continued to spread her jam on her toast, “I thought I made it pretty clear yesterday that I don’t want to talk about that.” She said, staring the girl hard in the eyes. The girl squeaked in alarm, her cheeks turning bright red.

“So, it is true then? Blackbeard’s really out there? An actual pirate? That’s so cool!” the boy camper said, but instantly quieted as Reyna shot him a dirty look.

The table fell into an awkward silence, and finally Reyna had enough of it. She got up to leave. She wasn’t particularly hungry anymore anyway.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

As evening drew closer, Jason was anxious for the War Games. This week they were going to have gladiator fights. The gladiator fights were always Jason’s favorite. Each cohort would choose one junior camper between the ages of 12 and 15 and one senior camper over 15 to represent their cohort. The ten fighters would enter the makeshift arena on the Field of Mars and they would fight. If a camper was disarmed or knocked out, they would be disqualified. The last camper standing would win for their cohort.

During the last gladiator fight, Jason had come so close to winning. He had only been defeated by the senior fighter from the First Cohort. Even though he didn’t win for his cohort, it had been a great morale booster. The Fifth Cohort was notoriously unlucky, and almost never won any of the War Games. Jason was determined to win this time.

He joined his friends at their dinner table as they waited for roll call and the nomination of gladiators. He spied Reyna sitting at the edge of the Third Cohort’s table. He realized he hadn’t seen her all day. He wondered what sort of punishment the praetors had given her over the Octavian situation. She looked agitated, like she’d rather be anywhere besides at her cohort’s table. Evander sat near her trying to make conversation, but he seemed to be the only one. The other members of her cohort seemed to ignore her or just stare at her.

Octavian’s story had spread around the camp like wildfire. Jason couldn’t go very far without hearing people spreading rumors, real and fake, about the new recruit. He didn’t know how much Reyna cared or paid attention to the rumors, but he couldn’t help but feel partially guilty over it.

 Gwen sat down next to him and Dakota followed shortly after. “You excited about the War Games?” Gwen asked.

Jason grinned, his thoughts about Reyna quickly evaporating, “I’m so excited. I’m going to win for us this time.”

“I wouldn’t bet money on it.” Octavian said as he walked past their table. “When was the last time the Fifth Cohort won anything?”

Jason scowled, “You’re one to talk. You wouldn’t last five minutes in that arena.”

“Regardless,” Octavian said irritably, “The First is going to knock you out so fast you won’t know what hit you. Have fun.”

Jason rolled his eyes and turned back to his friends. “Don’t worry about him, Jason.” Gwen said, “You said it yourself, his skinny ass wouldn’t last more than five minutes in the arena.”

After roll call, the praetors called for attention again. “Romans! Tonight, at the War Games, we will host the gladiator fights. Each cohort must nominate two warriors to fight for their cohort. We will begin with the First Cohort. Who do you choose to represent your team?”

Octavian stood for his table and read out the nominations. Simon Long, who had beaten Jason during the last gladiator fight, was nominated as the senior gladiator. Molly McPheaters was nominated as the junior gladiator. He recognized Molly from some of his classes. She was good with a sword, but he had beaten her in combat training numerous times. She didn’t pose as much of a threat. Once the gladiators were nominated, they moved on to the Second Cohort.

He went through each nomination, noting their weaknesses and strengths; mentally calculating when and how he should approach each fighter. He knew Second’s senior gladiator would try to take on Simon, and Simon would take him out. That eliminated one senior fighter…

It was the Third’s time to nominate. Nola Golden, the other centurion for the Third Cohort stood, “I nominate Evander Jackson as senior gladiator.”

“Does your cohort approve?” Lee asked.

The Third cohort banged their swords and lances in support. Nola smiled “My cohort approves. Evander, do you accept this role?”

“I accept.” Evander said.

“It is settled. Who does the Third nominate for their junior gladiator?” Aurelia asked the centurions.

Evander whispered something to Nola, and she shrugged and motioned for him to speak. “I nominate Reyna Ramírez-Arellano.”

The silence in the mess hall was suddenly interrupted as campers whispered amongst themselves. Reyna didn’t look surprised by the nomination, but she didn’t look thrilled about it.

Aurelia and Lee exchanged glances and Lee shrugged, “Okay, does your cohort approve the nomination?”

The cohort was silent for a moment before they reluctantly started banging their shields and lances far less enthusiastically than they had with Evander. They clearly weren’t happy about Evander’s nomination, but they respected Evander enough to back his decision.

“My cohort approves.” Evander said. If he regretted his nomination, he did a good job of not letting it show, “Reyna, do you accept this role?”

“I accept.”

“It is settled then. Fourth Cohort, who do you nominate for your senior gladiator?” Lee asked.

Jason wasn’t listening anymore. He was watching the Third Cohort. Evander and Nola were obviously discussing battle strategies with Reyna, but he could see that she wasn’t paying attention. Her attention kept flitting over to the other members of her cohort, where some of the campers glared at her. He could see Austin Andrews sending her especially dirty looks. Austin had been chosen for the last gladiator battle as the Third’s junior gladiator and had been eliminated fairly quickly. But he could imagine the boy was not thrilled about losing his role as gladiator to the _probatio_.

“Fifth Cohort, who do you nominate for your senior gladiator?” Aurelia asked, breaking Jason’s train of thought.

Lydia Ottoman, one of the centurions from the Fifth stood, “I nominate Charlie Taylor as senior gladiator.”

“We approve!” Dakota said cheekily, banging his shield on the ground as he raised his Kool-Aid glass.

Aurelia shot him a dirty look, “Normally, you’re supposed to wait for us to ask.”

Dakota had enough sense to act embarrassed. “Right, sorry praetor.”

Aurelia continued, “Does your cohort approve your nomination?”

They banged their shields and lances on the ground in approval. “My cohort approves, and I accept.” Charlie said.

“Then it’s settled, who do you nominate as your junior gladiator?” Lee asked.

“I nominate Jason Grace.” Charlie said, winking at Jason.

“Does your cohort approve your nomination?”

His cohort banged their weapons again, and Jason grinned. “My cohort approves, Jason do you accept this role?” Charlie asked.

“I accept.”

Aurelia smiled, “The gladiators have been selected. In one hour, we will gather at the Field of Mars and we will begin the battle. Enjoy your dinner.”

Food instantly appeared in front of them, and Jason began shoveling food in his mouth. He loved the food at Camp Jupiter. Each meal was always something he wanted to eat. He was never disappointed.

“So, Jason. We need to come up with a game plan.” Charlie said, “They’ll know not to underestimate you this time, so the First and Second are going to try to take you out early.”

“Hey, we’ve got a proposition for you.”

They turned to see Evander and Reyna standing next to their table.

“What sort of proposition?” Charlie asked.

“We already talked to the Fourth about it, what if we teamed up to take out the First and Second.” Evander suggested, “You said it yourself, they’re going to go for Jason first. Everyone would. But if we can take out Simon quickly, we can ensure that at least the First won’t win.”

“And what happens to our alliance when Simon’s out?” Jason asked skeptically.

“Then everyone’s on their own. We let the best cohort win.” Evander said.

Jason looked to Charlie to see what he thought. He didn’t know how much he trusted Evander and Reyna. He didn’t know who Reyna’s godly parent was, but he knew Evander was a son of Mars. He always had a battle plan, and about 100 backup plans. Still, it would be easier to win if they could take out Simon early.

Charlie shrugged at Jason and turned back to Evander, “Sure, we’re in.”

Evander grinned, “Excellent. I’ll let the Fourth know. Enjoy your meal. We’ll see you in the arena shortly.”

Once they were out of earshot, Jason turned to Charlie, “I don’t trust them.”

Charlie grinned, “Good. I don’t either. But Evander has a point, if we don’t team up with them, every gladiator will try to take you out. If we can get Simon out first, it gives us a clearer path to victory. Just stay on your toes and be ready for them to turn at any moment.”

Before dinner ended, the gladiators headed down to storage to prepare their weapons and armor. Evander was showing Reyna how to adjust her armor, so it wasn’t so bulky. As Evander walked away to take care of his own armor, Jason walked over to Reyna.

“Scared?” he asked her.

She stared him down, unintimidated by him. Jason hated that she was taller than him. “I’m not scared of anything.”

Jason shrugged, “I guess after living with Blackbeard, nothing could scare you.”

That seemed to rattle her slightly, but her expression quickly turned into one of rage, “Where did you learn that? Was it Octavian?”

Jason suddenly felt a bit guilty for bringing it up to try to mess with her. “Yeah. He told us after you left.”

Reyna tried to look nonchalant, but Jason could see the slight pink tinge on her cheeks, though he couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment, “What else did he tell you?”

Jason shrugged, “Nothing else. He just told us that you and your sister were kidnapped by Blackbeard’s pirates.”

“Gladiators, please get ready to enter the arena.” Lee’s voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

Jason cleared his throat awkwardly, “Well, good luck.”

She looked at him, and this time she didn’t try to hide her emotions. Her eyes blazed with fury. “I hope you lose.” She said before storming off.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

Jason could hear the cheers from the campers before he entered the arena. As he walked through the entrance to the arena, he could see their faces; hundreds of Romans cheering and chanting. Each one excited to see their warriors compete.

Jason looked to his right and saw Charlie emerge from the arch next to him. The warriors emerged in a circle around the arena. “Let’s remember the rules, no killing, maiming, or going for the head. If you are disarmed, you are disqualified. If you are knocked unconscious, you are disqualified. Gladiators are you ready?” came Lee’s voice over the crowds. Jason and the other gladiators shouted in agreement, and the crowd cheered louder.

“Romans are you ready?” Lee shouted again.

The stadium went wild with cheers and screams. Jason could just barely spy Lee in the praetor’s box. “Begin!”

The first five minutes were always the most chaotic, as Jason and the other campers ran at each other, swinging their swords madly.

He swung at Molly, dodged the boy from the Second, blocked Simon’s blow. Quickly a third of the gladiators were disqualified as they were disarmed. The Fourth lost its junior fighter, Molly was eliminated from the First, and surprisingly the Second’s senior gladiator was eliminated.

He saw Charlie fighting Simon, and quickly went to help him, when the junior gladiator from the Second Cohort swung his sword at Jason, almost decapitating him. “Whoops!” the boy from the Second grinned.

Jason scowled, and he raised his sword to strike at the boy, when another fighter beat him to it. Reyna slashed at the boy aggressively, and it took all of the boy’s power to keep from being completely knocked over.

Jason allowed Reyna to have that fight and ran to help Charlie battle Simon. The two were engaged in a fierce fight, but Jason could see that Simon clearly had the upper hand. Charlie was on the defense.

Jason jumped in and swung at Simon. Jason distracted Simon enough to allow Charlie to recover, and the two swung at the Simon, but the boy blocked them without too much difficulty.

Suddenly Evander joined in the fray, and as three fought one, they quickly were able to overpower Simon, but before he was completely overpowered, he managed to disarm Evander, before Charlie knocked Simon’s sword out of his hand. But as Simon was disqualified, somebody came up from behind them and launched a surprise attack, and Charlie’s sword flew out of his hand, disqualifying him.

Jason turned angrily to see who was left and felt his blood boil when he saw Reyna. She had apparently taken out junior gladiator from the Second and had eliminated the senior gladiator for the Fourth. The crowd was going wild. It was highly unusual for a junior gladiator to be one of the remaining two fighters. To have two junior gladiators was almost unheard of.

Jason raised his sword and a crack of lightning jolted through the sword, leaving him feeling more energized than he had at the beginning of the fight, “I’m not losing to you again.” He snarled.

Reyna didn’t say anything, but almost quicker than Jason was prepared, she launched her attack. She swung at him viciously, but Jason was prepared for her attacks. He remembered her fighting style from the day before, so he was more prepared for her attacks. They were pretty evenly matched, and for a moment, Jason was excited by the challenge. The stadium was chanting his name.

He heard one of the gladiators call from the side, “Lookout Reyna! Blackbeard’s right behind you!” Some of the campers laughed.

It was a low joke, but Reyna was distracted for just a second long enough for Jason to gain the upper hand. He feigned a swing at her feet, and instead kicked out and tripped her, knocking her sword out of her hand. “Yield.” Jason said, aiming his sword at her.

The demigods in the crowds laughed and cheered as Reyna raised her hands in surrender. Her eyes gave away no emotion, but Jason could see a faint red tinge on her cheeks. Jason had wanted to beat her since she had arrived at camp. And now he had defeated her in the best possible way, so he couldn’t understand why he felt so miserable.

He picked up Reyna’s sword off the ground and handed it to her as members of the Fifth Cohort flooded the field. Reyna nodded curtly, her eyes not meeting his, “Thanks.”

Before Jason could think of something to say, his friends had lifted him up onto their shoulders and cheering and chanting his name. Reyna was lost in the crowd.

 


	4. IV.

The Fifth Cohort was ecstatic. They prepared a party at one of the bigger bunkers. They pushed the bunk beds out of the way and prepared games, snacks, and lots of Kool-Aid. Jason hadn’t seen them this enthusiastic about anything since Jason had been at camp. It felt great to see them filled with pride again.

“Either way, the First didn’t win.” Dakota said throwing his arms around Jason’s shoulders. “It sucks that Charlie had to get out before Reyna. That would have been so dope. Two winners from the Fifth. No offense, Charlie.”

Charlie just laughed good-naturedly, “It doesn’t bother me. She caught me by surprise. She’s definitely a skilled fighter. You did good Jason.”

Jason didn’t think anything could squash his mood. The night was still young, and the Fifth was prepared to party until the morning. So, naturally it didn’t last.

One of the messengers ran into the barrack, his cheeks red from exertion.

“Hey! Donny! Join the party!” Dakota grinned at the boy from the Fourth.

“No time!” Donny panted, “The praetors are calling for an emergency senate meeting. All campers must attend!”

Jason frowned, “What’s the meeting about?”

The messenger grinned excitedly, “The Augers had a premonition. There’s going to be a quest!”

Jason’s heart soared as he ran with his fellow campers to the senate meeting. Maybe he’d finally get to go on his first quest. Maybe that was why Juno had visited him and given him his sword. Maybe she knew he was about to go on a quest.

The senators were already filing into their seats when Jason entered the large auditorium. He was about to follow Gwen and Dakota to the back of the hall, when Octavian stopped him. “Jason, the praetors have asked me to instruct you to sit in the front.”

Jason frowned, “Why?”

Octavian scowled, “Are you questioning an order from our praetors?”

“No, sir.” Jason said, giving Octavian a phony salute. Octavian’s scowl deepened. Whatever the praetors wanted with him, it clearly irritated the daylights out of Octavian, which frankly was fine with Jason.

Once everyone was seated, the praetors held up a hand to silence the audience. “Romans, as you have probably already heard, the auguries have revealed that we will have a quest.” Aurelia announced. “Octavian, if you could read us what the auguries have said.”

Octavian still looked irritated, but he cleared his throat and began to read dramatically, “The son of lightning and a child of war will reclaim that, which is right. But beware that which is left. Darkness shall fall as the light wakes. The search begins in the garden of the gods.”

The auditorium was silent as the Romans tried working out the riddle. “What does it mean?” someone shouted impatiently.

“It’s hard to say.” Octavian sighed, “the auguries work in mysterious ways.”

“The son of lightning part seems pretty obvious.” Charlie said slowly, looking at Jason.

“Yes, that much we agreed on.” Lee said. “Jason, it looks like this is your first quest. Do you agree to it?”

Jason nodded solemnly, “I do.”

He thought he would be more excited for his first quest, but all he could feel was dread. The quest was so vague. How was he supposed to know where to go or what to do?

“The child of war is clearly a child of Mars!” a camper shouted from the back, “I’ll volunteer to go!”

“You forget that Bellona is also the goddess of war.” A senator pointed out, “It could be one of her children as well.”

“Mars is the patron of all Romans!” Another shouted, “It could be anyone of us that is supposed to go!”

The campers and Lares started arguing amongst themselves as Lee and Aurelia tried regaining control over the senate.

“Quiet!” Aurelia shouted.

But suddenly, a camper gasped and pointed to the back of the auditorium where Reyna was sitting. Hovering a few inches above her head glowed a sword and a torch; the symbol of Bellona.

Reyna normally looked so unfazed, but as everyone stared at her, she looked like she’d prefer to melt into the chair and disappear.

“A child of war.” Charlie murmured. Immediately the senate hall erupted into protests and arguments.

Lee silenced the auditorium again. “Reyna, please come forward and take a seat next to Jason.” Jason wanted to die. Why? Out of anybody at the camp, why did it have to be her? She did a good job hiding her embarrassment as she moved to the front, but as she sat down, Jason could see the slight flush on her cheeks again.

“Praetors, if I may, Reyna has only arrived at camp two days ago. It’s clear she is already struggling to adjust.” Octavian gave her a pointed look, and Jason couldn’t understand how she was able to stay so calm. He was getting irritated for her.

Octavian continued, “It would be unwise of us to potentially jeopardize this quest based on an ill-timed claiming.”

“This can’t be a coincidence!” Evander argued, “Bellona is more than simply a goddess of warfare. She’s also the goddess of strategies. She wouldn’t have claimed her now of all times for no reason.”

“You must admit Octavian, it’s too much of a coincidence.” Aurelia said, “It must be a sign.”

“She is right.” Junius, the Lar spoke up from the back, “This is no coincidence. Our young _probatio_ was chosen by Bellona for this quest. We must accept her decision.”

“In that case, are there any objections to Reyna being assigned second member to this quest?” Aurelia asked. There were some grumbles from the campers, but no one objected outright. Jason couldn’t help the disappointment he felt.

“Very well.” Octavian grumbled, “But that brings about a new problem. Who will lead this quest? Reyna is _probatio_ , and Jason is not a centurion. Our laws decree a centurion must be the one to lead a quest.”

Charlie stood forward, “I guess this is a good a time as any to announce my retirement then.”

Jason’s jaw went slack, “What? What do you mean retirement?”

Charlie grinned sheepishly, “I just got my acceptance to San Francisco State. I’m going to college in the fall.” He looked at Lee and Aurelia, “Praetors, if you’ll accept, I would like to nominate Jason Grace for centurion of the Fifth Cohort. I believe he’s proved himself worthy after the War Games today.”

Jason stared at Charlie in shock, he was only just 13. Sure, he had been at camp longer than almost anyone, but was he really qualified to become centurion?

“What does your cohort say?” Aurelia asked.

His cohort members stood for him. Gwen and Dakota gave him a thumbs up, but Jason was still too stunned to say anything.

“Your cohort approves. Jason, do you accept the position of centurion?” Lee asked.

Jason tried to get over his shock. He looked at Charlie who smiled at him encouragingly. “I accept.”

Charlie grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, and Jason could see Octavian fuming. Lee and Aurelia held up a hand to silence the auditorium again, “Since that is settled, Jason do you accept your role as leader of this quest?”

Jason nodded, “I do.”

“And Reyna, do you accept your position on this quest?”

Reyna nodded solemnly, but Jason was pretty sure she didn’t want to go on this quest anymore than he wanted her to.

Aurelia nodded, and Jason could see the pity-look she exchanged with Lee. _Great, even our own praetors know this is an impossible quest._ Jason thought bitterly.

“As for the rest of the quest…” Lee continued.

“It’s incredibly unclear.” Octavian said unhelpfully.

“The auguries didn’t way anything else? Like what they should actually be looking for? Or where exactly they should start?”

“Colorado.” Reyna said, as if it were obvious. “Your quest begins in the Garden of the Gods. That’s in Colorado, right?”

“Or,” Octavian said, “it could be referring to the Garden of the Hesperides, which is just north of here.”

“But it says—”

“Prophecies are never that straightforward.” Octavian said, “They’re never going to just give you the answer. They’ll purposely try to throw you off.”

“The prophecy says we have to go right—” Reyna started to argue, but Octavian cut her off again.

“It says you must ‘reclaim that, which is right,’ not to go right. It probably means you have to reclaim some sort of birth right.”

“It could be referring to the direction.” Reyna said coolly, “You said it yourself, quests are rarely straightforward.”

Octavian scowled before turning to the assembly, “The best course of action, I believe, would be to first send our _heroes_ north. If that journey proves fruitless, then have them go to Colorado.”

“We’d be wasting time.” Reyna insisted, “We’re supposed to complete this quest before the light wakes. We don’t know when that is, but if we assume it is soon, we have no time to waste!”

“And what a waste of time it would be if we sent you to Colorado, only for you to learn you should have gone north. You’d be backtracking.” Octavian argued, “You’ve only been here two days, so I’ll forgive your naivety, but for the sake of this quest, I’ll ask the council to hear my point.”

Jason was pretty sure if looks could kill, Reyna would have murdered Octavian at least ten times.

“Octavian has a point, but then so does Reyna.” Aurelia mused, “Jason, you are the leader of this quest. What do you say?”

Jason froze. He knew he had to work with Reyna on this quest whether he liked it or not... he also disliked Octavian far more than he disliked Reyna… still, Octavian did make a good point. This quest was about to be real _fun._

He blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, “As much as I would like the quest to be that straightforward, it feels too easy for us to start in Colorado. I think it’s probably better to be safe and go to San Francisco first.” He avoided looking at both Reyna and Octavian. But he could feel Reyna’s eyes boring holes into his head, and he could see Octavian’s smug grin out of the corner of his eye. “We can get an early start, and if going to the Garden of the Hesperides turns out to be nothing, we can still have the whole day to get to Colorado.”

Lee nodded, “Then it’s decided. We’ll arrange a ride for you two to San Francisco tomorrow morning at 08:30. I suggest you both rest and prepare for your journey.” He looked at the senate, “Meeting adjourned.”

Jason tried to catch up to Reyna after the meeting, but she slipped away as campers came up to congratulate him or wish him luck.

“Wow, first you win the War Games, then you’re elected centurion, and then you get your first quest.” Dakota grinned, “Being a teenager’s really going well for you. Are you excited?”

“It’s some quest.” Jason grumbled.

Gwen grimaced, “Yeah, it’s not exactly ideal.”

“Ideal? I have no idea what I’m supposed to be looking for on this quest, and to make matters worse my partner is the pirate queen _probatio_. This quest is going to be a disaster.” Jason complained.

“Thanks for that vote of confidence.” Jason jumped, and turned to see Reyna standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest.

Jason cleared his throat, embarrassed to have been caught talking about her.

“We’ll see you later, Jason.” Dakota mumbled awkwardly as he and Gwen left him alone with Reyna.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say to her, “So, uh what are your thoughts on this quest?” Jason asked awkwardly, unable to stand the uncomfortable silence. “Any clue what we’re supposed to be looking for?”

“Why don’t you ask Octavian?” Reyna said coldly, “You seem to like hearing what he has to say.”

Jason winced, “Reyna, I—”

“Look,” Reyna said brusquely, “I know you don’t want me on this quest, but whether you like it or not, we’ve both been chosen. So, let’s just agree to work together for the sake of the quest. Then we can come back, and you can go back to hating me for kicking your ass in combat.”

Jason scowled, “If I remember correctly, I beat you today. Not the other way around.”

Anger flashed in Reyna’s eyes, and for a moment he thought she was going to hit him. But instead, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the auditorium. _Oh yeah._ Jason thought bitterly, _This quest is going to be real fun._


	5. V.

Reyna hated dreams. They were never very pleasant, and often her dreams were nightmares; bad reminders of her past. This time she dreamed she was in her old house in San Juan. It was just the way Hylla and she had left it four years ago. The windows were all boarded up, and the couches had been pushed to block all of the exits except for the door in the kitchen. The house was a fortress, not a home.

As Reyna moved into the living room, she saw a man sitting on the couch by the front door. For a brief second, she feared it was her father. But as the man’s face came into view, she realized she didn’t recognize the figure, even if he did seem familiar.

He had a crew-cut hair style and his eyes were hidden by a pair of black sunglasses. He wore a bomber jacket, dark jeans, and sand-colored combat boots, that were stained with dark brown spots. _Blood_. Reyna realized. The man sat so relaxed in the fortress he father had made. She felt a sudden wave of anger at the stranger. She couldn’t tell why, but she instantly hated him.

“Who are you?” She demanded in Spanish.

The man removed his sunglasses, and Reyna gasped; where his eyes should have been were two balls of fire. “You mean to tell me you don’t recognize your own uncle?” The man responded in perfect Spanish. He smirked at her apparent shock, “What are they teaching you kids at camp these days?”

“You’re Mars.” Reyna said, “Brother of Bellona.”

Mars did a little bow, “In the flesh.” He said. He eyed her for a second, before adding, “This is the part where you’re supposed to kneel.”

Yeah, Reyna was definitely sure she hated this guy. Still, she knelt. She knew when to choose her battles.

“Very good. You can stand now.” Mars said. He reminded Reyna of the bullies she had dealt with in elementary school.

“Why are you here?” Reyna asked as she stood, trying to keep the anger from her voice.

“Your mother sent me.” Mars said nonchalantly. He could probably sense her anger, but the slight smirk on his face made Reyna want to run him through with a spear.

“Why couldn’t she come herself?” Reyna asked.

Mars frowned, “Sit down, kid.” He said, gesturing to the seat next to him on the couch.

When Reyna had lived in their house, she had only sat in the living room once. Staying there too long meant she risked her father’s rage.

“I’d rather stand.” She said.

Mars shrugged, “Suit yourself.” He said, propping his feet up on the couch, “Anyway, your mom was busy. She doesn’t have time to visit all of her kids all the time.”

“She’s never visited.” Reyna said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice, “I don’t even know what she looks like.”

Mars stuck out his lower lip, mocking her, “Oh boohoo. Mommy doesn’t have time for wittle Weyna. You’re a big kid now, Reyna. Your mom’s the goddess of strategic warfare. She’s got more important matters to attend to. Get over yourself.”

Reyna’s vision went red. She wanted to scream at Mars until her voice was gone, but she was certain he would just continue his taunts. “Fine.” She said bitterly, “What does my mother want, then?”

“She sent me to warn you about this quest.” Mars said seriously, “I told her she should just let you figure it out for yourself, but she insisted. She wanted me to warn you that you’ve got to get that anger of yours under control. War and rash decision decisions don’t go together. If you can’t figure out how to keep a level head, this quest is going to fail, and you’re going to lose everything.”

Somehow that just made Reyna more furious. “That’s what she has to say to me? After everything I’ve gone through because of her, she tells me not to be angry?”

The fire in Mars’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Your mother had nothing to do with the mess you and your sister got yourselves into.”

“Yeah? Bellona’s the goddess of war! All of this—” she gestured at the barricades around them, “Was caused by war. War started all of this!”

“War never killed your father.” Mars said deadly calm compared to Reyna’s fury. “That was pure rage that killed your father. Or do you forget, Reyna _Avila Ramírez-Arellano_?”

Suddenly she was in the kitchen of her San Juan home, watching her own history unfold before her eyes. She watched as he father chased her around the kitchen with the knife in his hands. Reyna screamed for Hylla, and just as the older girl came in, her father picked up the kitchen chair and threw it at her sister. Even to this day, she could feel the fear and the rage well up inside her as the chair knocked Hylla unconscious.

She saw herself, barely nine-years-old scream Hylla’s name. She watched as she ran to the kitchen table where she had seen the Imperial Gold saber. She grabbed it off the table and with a scream attacked her father with it. His body instantly crumbled to dust.

Reyna began to tremble, and Mars’s voice appeared in her mind. “You killed your own father because of your rage. And he was not the last person to die by your temper.”

Suddenly she was transported back to Blackbeard’s ship. This was less than a year ago. She wanted to cry as she watched the vision. She knew what was going to happen.

She watched as the pirate smacked her eleven-year-old self. One of the drunk pirates grabbed her arms and pulled her close to her face. She could still remember the smell of alcohol on his breath.

“She’s a feisty one, this one.” He inhaled deeply, smelling her hair, “I like ‘em feisty.” The pirate licked his lips, and Reyna screamed.

“Hylla!”

“You think your sister’s going to save you little girl? We’ll put both of you in your place!”

Reyna watched as she screamed again, but she knew this time wasn’t out of fear, but rage. She watched as her eleven-year-old self grabbed the Imperial Gold dagger from the pirate and jam it into his heart.

The pirate was so drunk, he barely realized what had happened before he evaporated into dust. Without a second thought, she stabbed the other pirate.

Reyna knew what would happen next. Hylla would steal a lifeboat for the two of them to escape. The would be met by the Amazons, and Hylla would leave her. She hadn’t talked to her sister since then.

“Even your own sister receives your rage.” Mars’s voice filtered through the dream.

“She left me!” Reyna screamed. If the memories were supposed to get her to control her rage, it wasn’t working. She felt years of anger boiling inside her.

“Your father’s death was the first casualty of your rage. Learn to control it, or there will be more blood on your hands. This is your last warning.”

Suddenly, Reyna was jolted awake, feeling like someone had dumped ice water on her. She jumped out of bed and slipped a sweatshirt and her tennis shoes. The room suddenly felt too claustrophobic. She needed to clear her head.

She grabbed her dagger and bolted from the bunker, remembering the dreams that Mars showed her. _Not dreams_. She reminded herself, _Memories._ As she walked, she could feel the anger building inside of her; at Bellona for ignoring her, at her father for the way he abused them, at Hylla for abandoning her for the Amazons, at Blackbeard, at Mars, at Percy Jackson, at Octavian, at Lupa, at Jason and this stupid quest.

She screamed and threw her dagger into a tree as hard as she could. A startled wood nymph muttered something rude about Reyna under her breath, but she didn’t care. She heard a branch crack. She turned and glared at the intruder and felt another surge of anger as Jason Grace cautiously entered the clearing, his sword drawn.

He eyed her suspiciously and flipped his sword back into a gold coin and tucked it into his pocket. He gingerly pulled her dagger out of the tree. “What are you doing here?” he asked carefully.

“I could ask you the same question.” Reyna spat back.

Jason shrugged, feigning casualness, but Reyna could see the tension in his shoulders.  “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d go for a walk.” He narrowed his eyes, “I heard you scream. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Reyna said too quickly.

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked at the dagger in his hands, “If this is you being ‘fine,’ I definitely don’t want to see you when you’re not fine.”

She closed her eyes and thought of Mars’s warning. Exhaustion suddenly replaced her anger, leaving her feeling hallow. “It’s something I have to figure out for myself.” She said.

Jason was quiet for a moment, and in the moonlight, his blond hair appeared white. He tentatively took a seat down next to her on the ground and handed her the weapon.

“Sometimes it helps to talk about it with friends.” Jason said after another moment.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t really have a lot of those.” Reyna said blandly.

Jason thought for a moment, “Well, you are kind of scary.” He joked, trying to ease the tension between them.

She gave him one of her signature glares, and Jason actually laughed, “See, that look right there would scare Medusa.”

She tried to hold her stare, but Jason could see the corners of her lips trying not to smile.

“Ah-ha! I knew you were able to smile.” Jason grinned, “Dakota owes me five bucks.”

Reyna scowled and punched him in the arm, but it was mostly playful.

“Ow.” Jason said, rubbing his arm jokingly, “Is punching people how you made friends before you came here? Because I don’t know if that’ll work with Romans.”

Reyna stared at the ground, any hint of a smile disappearing from her face. “I didn’t really have a lot of friends before coming here either.”

Jason frowned, “Really?”

Reyna shook her head, “No it was just me and… me and my sister.” She said. She felt tears begin to burn her eyes, but she blinked them away. Lupa had told her that she would not cry over her sister anymore.

“What happened to her?” Jason asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer. If she and her sister were both captured by Blackbeard, he wondered if maybe her sister hadn’t escaped.

“She left me.” Reyna said bitterly, “I haven’t heard from her in two months.”

“Oh.” Jason said, suddenly feeling dumb. “And I’m guessing your dad is—”

Reyna grimaced, “He’s dead.”

Jason didn’t pry anymore. A lot of demigods had strained relations with their mortal parents. He had a feeling there was a lot that Reyna didn’t feel like telling him.

“Well if it makes you feel any better, I don’t even know my mom.” He with a shrug, “And I’ve been here about eight years and I’ve got a total of three friends, although one of them is leaving for college, so I guess that leaves me with two friends… But don’t worry, in about four years you should have at least one friend.” He joked trying to lighten the mood again.

Her lips twitched like she was trying not to smile again.

“By the way.” Jason said, growing serious, “I wanted to apologize about yesterday, and not agreeing with you. I really want you to be right… well, I mostly just want Octavian to be wrong, but I also don’t want to jeopardize my first quest just because I hate Octavian.”

Reyna thought for a moment, “I still don’t think he’s right. But I can understand why you would agree with him.”

Jason nodded, unsure if he should thank her or try to argue with her. He decided to change the subject, “I’m also sorry about Octavian telling everyone your secret. He’s a little weasel. But I’ll try to at least get the Fifth Cohort to stop talking about it.”

Reyna gave him a suspicious look, like she was trying to figure out if he had ulterior motives. But she finally nodded, “Thanks.”

The silence that followed wasn’t exactly awkward, but it wasn’t very comfortable either. “Well,” Jason said, jumping to his feet, “We should probably try to sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

He held out his hand to help her up, and she eyed it like she couldn’t decide if she should accept his help or chop it off with her dagger. She reluctantly took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

They walked back to the barracks in awkward silence. Jason wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to this girl, who seemed so lost, but could also easily run him through with her sword. He really hoped their whole quest wouldn’t be this awkward, but he didn’t have high expectations. They reached the barracks of the Fifth Cohort.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jason said, eager to escape the tense silence.

Reyna nodded soundlessly. Sometime during the walk, she had regained her attitude of bored indifference, and Jason almost couldn’t believe that the Reyna he had found in the woods was the same person standing in front of him.

“Goodnight, Reyna.” He said, as she began walking toward the Third Cohort barracks.

She paused, but didn’t face him, “Goodnight, Jason.”


	6. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who never remembers to update? >>this author<<   
> Anyway, if you're interested in a slightly further along version of this fic, you can also find it at fanfiction.net. I'm may try to add a few chapters to this one in the next few days, but I'm in between moves, so I may not have a lot of time. We'll see. Anyway, if you enjoy, def leave kudos or comments. They're my favorite. To those of you who already have, you guys are swell. I really appreciate you.   
> ~AF

Jason was up early the next morning. He was jittery to begin his first quest, but he was feeling at least a little better about it than he was yesterday. At least he and Reyna were sort of on speaking terms.

He quickly showered and then grabbed his backpack and ran to the mess hall. There weren’t too many campers that early, but Reyna was already there with Evander. Her hair was neatly braided down her back and she wore a purple Camp Jupiter shirt, jean shorts, and hiking shoes. If it wasn’t for the dagger strapped to her shorts, she could have easily passed as a regular middle schooler on her way to summer camp. She and Evander were looking over a map of the North America as they ate.

“What’re you looking at?” Jason asked, sitting down next to Reyna.

“It’s a map.” Reyna said dryly, but Jason could see a playful smirk at the corner of her mouth.

“Har, har, har. Very funny.” Jason said sarcastically, causing Reyna to give him a playful look.

Evander chuckled, “It’s a map of the West and the corresponding known Roman locations.”

Jason looked over Reyna’s shoulder at the map. He recognized most of the places listed, but there were a few he didn’t recognize.

“The Sea of Monsters?” Jason asked, “I’ve never heard of that.”

Reyna gave him a strange look, “Really? Your namesake was one of the heroes to sail through it.”

Jason shrugged, “So the Sea of Monsters is in the Bermuda Triangle?”

Evander gave him a wry smile, “More like the Sea of Monsters _is_ the Bermuda Triangle. Even mortals know there’s something dangerous there.”

Jason blew out a puff of air, “Well, I say we try to avoid that and any other place named after monsters.”

“Agreed.” Reyna said.

They ate in silence as Reyna and Evander continued to study the map. Charlie spotted them and came over to join them at the table, “Glad to see you two aren’t at each other’s throats yet.” He joked as he peeled the wrapper off of his muffin.

Jason rolled his eyes and threw one of his grapes at the former centurion. “What are you doing up this early anyway?” Jason asked.

Charlie smiled, “I told Lee and Aurelia I could drop you guys off in San Francisco. I’m heading there any way for orientation tomorrow.”

“I still can’t believe you’re leaving us to go to college.” Jason said, pouting.

Charlie grinned, and ruffled Jason’s hair, “Ah don’t worry about it, I’ll come and visit during breaks. You can’t completely get rid of me that easily.”

“You made our cohort sort of cool though.” Jason moaned, “How are we going to get our reputation back without you.”

Charlie laughed, “You’re a centurion now. And you won the War Games yesterday. Succeed on this quest, and you’ll definitely be on the right track to restoring our former glory.”

“I don’t suppose you have any idea what we’re supposed to be looking for?” Jason asked hopefully.

“Sorry, Jase. I don’t know anymore than you do. But you guys will figure it out as you go. Just think of it like a scavenger hunt.” Charlie said.

“A scavenger hunt where people could die if we mess up.” Reyna pointed out.

Charlie gave them a cheeky grin, “An extreme scavenger hunt. It’ll be fun. Now come on, let’s get you guys to San Francisco.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

The ride up to San Francisco was mostly uneventful. Jason and Charlie told Reyna stories about their time at Camp Jupiter. As they got closer to San Francisco, the fog began to roll in off the mountains.

“The mist is really strong here.” Charlie explained, “It has to be. The Garden of the Hesperides is here, and Mount Tam is just beyond that.”

“Mount Tam, that’s where Atlas is holding up the sky, right?” Reyna asked. Jason nodded grimly.

“Yeah, try to avoid Atlas if you can.” Charlie said, “You do not want to be tricked into holding up the sky.”

Reyna gave Jason a pointed look. Jason furrowed his brow, “Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’m not about to hold up the sky for some Titan with anger management problems.”

Charlie pulled up to the base of the mountain, “Well guys, this is as far as I can go.” He said, “Good luck with everything. If you need something, you can give me a call, but just remember monsters can track you easier when you use a cell phone.”

Jason nodded, before giving the older boy a hug. “Thanks for everything. We’ll really miss you.”

“Ah, you guys will be fine without me.” He smiled, then held out his hand to shake Reyna’s. “I’m glad we had the chance to meet, Reyna. You’ll make a great Roman.” He nodded towards Jason, “Make sure you keep this one in line.”

Reyna actually smiled, “Of course. Good luck in college.”

He gave them one last wave before he got into his car and drove away. Jason took a deep breath and turned to Reyna, “You ready?”

“You’re the leader.” Reyna said.

Jason nodded, “Okay then, let’s start this quest.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

They climbed the mountain in silence, both of them thinking about the quest. “It’s driving me crazy that we don’t even know what we’re supposed to be looking for.” Jason said, breaking the silence, “Like do we just stroll up to the Hesperides and say, ‘hey we’re on a quest, do you have a thing we might want?’”

“Oh, I’m sure that will work.” Reyna said sarcastically.

Jason shrugged, “You never know. I mean this quest already feels like a wild goose chase. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

As they got closer to the summit, the air became heavier with fog. Reyna stopped in her tracks, “Do you smell that?”

“She who smelt it, dealt it.” Jason said, grinning as Reyna scowled at him.

“You’re not nearly as funny as you think you are.” She said.

Jason frowned, “I’ll have you know, I’m very funny.” He sniffed the air, “It smells like cough drops.”

“Eucalyptus.” Reyna said.

“A koala _and_ a dragon’s favorite snack.” Jason said feigning cheeriness, “We must be close. And to think I was hoping this was one monster from mythology that had stayed dead.”

Reyna gave him a pointed look that clearly said, _it was your dumb decision to come here_. Of course, Octavian would send them to get killed by a dragon. The real kicker would be if they didn’t actually find anything that would help them on their quest.

“Okay, we need a game plan.” Jason said.

“I have one. Try to not get killed by a giant dragon.” Reyna suggested dryly.

“Good plan. Let’s do this.”

Despite it only being eleven in the morning, the Garden of the Hesperides was cast in a warm sunset. The sky glowed a beautiful orange/ purple color, leaving everything in a soft glow.  Topiaries and beautiful flowering plants filled the garden. On the far end, a lone tree grew with round golden apples hanging from the branches.

A large dragon lay curled protectively under the tree as a group of four girls played music for the dragon. The girls were beautiful, with long dark hair, and soft brown skin that seemed to glow in the lighting.

One of the girls spotted them and the other quickly stopped their playing. The dragon started to rise, a low growl escaping its throat, but one of the girls calmed it. The oldest of the girls walked over to them. She looked to be about 18.

She eyed them curiously, but not unkindly. “Hello. I am Aegle, the oldest daughter of Atlas. Goddess of evening and protectress of this garden. Who are you?” she asked.

Jason looked at Reyna, but she seemed to be in a stare-down with the other Hesperides. He cleared his throat, “I’m Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. This is Reyna, daughter of Bellona.”

Aegle smiled at Reyna warmly, “Oh don’t mind them” she said softly, “You just look like someone we knew.”

Reyna turned her attention back to the oldest of the Hesperides, “Who?”

She gave Reyna a sad look, “Our younger sister. She left us to join some hunters…”

Reyna’s eyes widened in shock, “The Amazons?”

She smiled sadly and gave Reyna’s hand a squeeze. Jason half expected Reyna to pull away from the goddess, but she appeared to be in a trance.

“No, not the Amazons; a different group. Though I can sense you feel our pain. Your sister left you too.” She spoke it as a fact, and Reyna nodded wordlessly.

Aegle reached forward and tucked a loose strand of Reyna’s black hair behind her ear, “You could stay with us.” She said softly, “You could be our little sister, and we could be the family you’ve always wanted.”

Jason nudged Reyna with his elbow, which seemed to break her out of her trance. “Sorry,” Jason said, “But we’re kind of on a time crunch. We’re here on a quest, so we really can’t stay.”

Aegle’s warm features grew cold, “You allow this boy to speak for you?”

Reyna’s regular stony expression had returned, “No,” she said calmly, “I speak for myself. But he is right. We’re here on a quest. Is there anything you might know that could help us?”

Aegle looked genuinely sad that Reyna had turned down her offer, “Unfortunately I haven’t heard anything that could be pertinent to a Roman quest. My father may know something though. He’s recently been visited by another demigod.”

Reyna glanced at Jason in confusion, but he was just as confused as she was. Camp hadn’t authorized another quest to the garden, so who was the other demigod?

“If you stay along the edge of the garden away from the apple tree, Ladon should not attack you.” Aegle said.

“Should?” Reyna asked, but Aegle just smiled.

“Be careful around my father. Even with the weight of the sky on his shoulders he can be dangerous. Do not be tricked by him” she looked at Reyna, “And Reyna, if you change your mind about my offer, just let me know.”

A pained look crossed Reyna’s face, “Thank you, but no thank you. I have a duty to Rome.”

The goddess smiled softly as she walked back toward her sisters, “Very well. Good luck heroes.”

Reyna and Jason skirted around the edge of the garden, glad to avoid the dragon. As they approached a large cavern, Jason glanced at Reyna. The conversation with Aegle had clearly bothered her, but she didn’t show it with her head held high and her face impassive.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Reyna glanced at him, and for a brief second, Jason could see through her façade. “I’m okay. I was just… caught off guard.”

Jason nodded, and tried to read her expression. “If there wasn’t a quest, would you have stayed?”

If she was surprised by his question, she didn’t show it. “I—”

“LUKE!” a voice bellowed. Jason grabbed Reyna’s arm and pulled them behind a stalagmite.

“Luke! Is that you?” the voice bellowed again. They peered from behind the rock and saw a large man standing underneath a massive swirling ceiling. He was dripping sweat, and the veins in his forehead popped out of his head from excursion.

Jason fiddled with his coin as he stepped out from behind the rockface. The titan squinted at Jason in confusion, “You’re not Luke.” Atlas grunted, “Who are you.”

“I’m a demigod.” Jason answered carefully, “I’m here on a quest.”

Atlas gnashed his teeth, “You’re too early! The plan isn’t ready yet!”

Jason looked back at Reyna, but she looked just as confused as he felt, “What plan?” he asked.

But the titan ignored him, “Are you here to take the sky? Are you one of Luke’s friends? He’ll be here. I promise. But first you _must_ take the sky!”

Before Jason could answer, Reyna grabbed him by the arm and pulled him behind another stalagmite. “What are you—”

But Reyna shushed him and motioned toward the entrance of the cave. A tall blond-haired guy in his early twenties entered the cave. He had a long scar across his face, and a scowl on his lips.

“What are you going on about now?” The guy asked.

Reyna motioned for them to begin moving toward the exit as the man spoke with the titan. They quietly edged along the cavern behind the stalagmites, careful to not be seen.

“There’s another demigod here.” Atlas growled, “Is he here for you?”

The guy, Luke, Jason assumed, was quiet for a moment.

“Where?” Luke asked, his voice deadly.

They inched their way toward the exit as Luke searched the cave. Reyna motioned for him to wait as she moved toward the mouth of the cave. She was just about to make a run for it when Luke’s sword swung down where Reyna had been standing seconds before.

She turned and pulled out her dagger, just barely managing to deflect his attack. Jason quickly flipped IVLIVS into his sword and ran to help Reyna.

Jason was one of Camp Jupiter’s most skilled swordsmen, but Luke fought in a way Jason had never seen before, and he clearly fought with years of experience. Despite his skill, he could not over power two of them, and as Jason deflected Luke’s blow, Reyna managed to disarm him.

Realizing what had happened, he kicked Jason in the chest and ran for his sword, while Reyna grabbed Jason’s hand as they ran for the exit. They ran back to the garden, with Luke close behind them. The Hesperides were nowhere to be seen.

Before Jason could even process what had happened, Reyna yanked him toward the perimeter of the garden, but not before Ladon swung on of his heads toward Jason; its massive fangs sinking into Jason’s shoulder.

He screamed in pain, and Reyna stabbed her dagger into the dragon’s neck, causing it to release Jason’s shoulder. Reyna grabbed him by his uninjured arm and pulled him to the edge of the garden. A tingling feeling started in his arm where the dragon had bit him, but it quickly moved to his whole body. He suddenly had a hard time focusing. Reyna was practically carrying him through the garden. Her voice came to him in and out of focus, like a radio with poor reception.

“…told you we shouldn’t have come here!” he heard her say.

“Less ‘told-you-so,’ more escaping, please.” Jason said, his words slurring.

He just registered the look of alarm on her face before everything went black.


	7. VII.

When Jason finally woke, it was dark. His shoulder was still sore, but the burning, tingly feeling was gone. Instead, he just felt groggy, like he had just taken a strong dose of Benadryl. He took in his surroundings. They were in a forest clearing. Reyna was leaning against a tree trunk with one headphone in her ear. She lazily tossed her dagger at a dead tree trunk. Judging by the marks on the tree, she had been at it for a while.

Her eyes flicked over to him as he moved, “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

He groaned as he tried to sit up, his head felt like it was spinning. “How long was I out?” he asked, trying to ignore the nausea he felt.

Reyna looked at her watch, “Well, it’s almost four in the morning, so you can do the math.”

Jason sucked in a breath, “Styx, were you able to get food or something?”

Reyna gave him a funny look, “I tried to order a pizza, but apparently Dominoes doesn’t deliver to forests on a mountain. I packed some snacks, but otherwise, no.”

Jason winced, “Did you at least sleep at all?”

“No, I figured someone should make sure you didn’t die in your sleep.”

Jason was glad it was dark so Reyna couldn’t see his face burning. He felt so embarrassed and guilty. He was supposed to be the quest leader, and so far, all he had managed to do was to get knocked unconscious. Obviously, Octavian had sent them to the wrong place, and Jason had listened to him.

“Reyna, I’m so sorry. You were right, we shouldn’t have gone here. I shouldn’t have listened to Octavian. Now I’ve cost us a whole day.” Jason said miserably.

Reyna looked at him like she wasn’t sure how to take his apology. “You did what you thought was right. It didn’t work out, but that doesn’t make you a bad leader.” She paused for a moment, before adding, “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

At that, Jason cracked a smile, “You and me both. Thanks for getting me out of there.”

Reyna smirked, “Yeah, well, next time you decide to pass out, please lose like fifty pounds. You’re a lot heavier than you look.”

“It’s all that muscle.” He joked, causing Reyna to roll her eyes at him, but he could see the trace of a smile on her lips.

“By the way,” he asked, “what happened to that Luke guy? Did he try to follow us?”

Reyna’s face grew dark, “No. Thankfully he didn’t. I think the dragon spooked him. I don’t know what I would have done if he had followed us.”

“He was good.” Jason said.

“You’ve never seen him before?” Reyna asked, “I think he’s a demigod.”

Jason shook his head, “I’ve never seen him at camp. If he is a demigod, he wasn’t trained there.”

Reyna nodded thoughtfully before letting out a yawn.

“Styx, Reyna, you should get some sleep. I can keep watch.” Jason said. Reyna eyed him skeptically, like she still expected him to pass out.

“I promise I won’t pass out or die while you’re sleeping.” He added. That seemed to satisfy her. She used her backpack as a pillow, and quickly fell asleep.

It was almost 07:00, and Jason began to doze off, when he heard Reyna cry out in her sleep, startling him awake. She had a pained expression on her face as she slept, “Hylla.” She cried.

Jason winced. He knew it wasn’t uncommon for demigods to have nightmares. He could sometimes hear his bunkmates cry out in their sleep, but with just the two of them, he felt like he was invading Reyna’s privacy.

Suddenly she woke up with a gasp, like she had been suffocating. She looked around in a panic, not recognizing where she was.

“Reyna,” Jason said quietly, but she still jumped at the sound of his voice, “You’re okay.”

Her shoulders relaxed as she recognized him, and she rubbed her eyes in exhaustion. “Sorry.” She mumbled, not looking at him.

“Nightmare?” he asked, hating how shaken she looked.

She nodded wordlessly, still not looking at him.

Jason nodded understandingly, “About the quest or personal?”

She played with the material of her sweatshirt. Without her usual confidence, she looked younger, like she was still a kid. _We are still kids._ Jason reminded himself.

“It was about my sister. Hylla.” She said finally, “So personal.”

“Is she a demigod too?” Jason asked.

Reyna nodded, “Yeah. She actually knew who our mom was. I think Bellona must have talked to her at some point, maybe before I was born. But Hylla never told me who she was.”

Jason frowned, “Why wouldn’t she tell you?”

Reyna pursed her lips like it was a difficult topic to discuss, “She resented our mother. I used to think it was because she left us with our dad… now I think I understand.”

“You and your sister didn’t get along with your dad?” Jason asked.

“Hylla told me he used to be okay.” Reyna said slowly, like she was trying to disconnect herself from the story, “He was in the military, and he was deployed right before I was born. I guess he was injured in battle. Hylla said when he came back, something inside him had snapped. He wasn’t a good father. Not while I knew him.”

“But your dad’s dead now? What happened?” Jason asked quietly.

Reyna stared at the ground for a moment, and Jason wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have asked. Finally, she spoke, “His soul was consumed by a mania.”

Jason frowned, “A mania?”

“Spirits of insanity. Eventually Hylla and I ran away, and as Octavian already told you, eventually we were kidnapped by Blackbeard.” Reyna said. Jason could tell there was a lot more to her story that she wasn’t sharing, but Jason didn’t want to pry anymore.

Jason had always been curious about his Mom. Sometimes he tried to imagine what it would be like growing up with a loving mother, who made him cookies or helped him with his homework. He’d always wanted to know his mom, but Reyna had known her father, and it was clear she had not had a good relationship with him.

She stared at him like she dared him to try and pity her. He knew the feeling. Growing up, people had either pitied him or feared him. They only ever saw him as the orphan son of Jupiter.

“How is it that probably the two most messed up kids at camp ended up on a quest together?” Jason finally joked, noticing the tension leave her shoulders.

Reyna even cracked a hint of a smile, “I told you my sob story, Sparkles, let’s hear yours.”

Jason opened his mouth in protest, “Sparkles? What kind of nickname is that?”

Reyna smirked, “After I gave you some ambrosia and unicorn drought you kept giving off little sparks of electricity. They looked like little sparkles.”

“You’re a bully.” Jason pouted, causing Reyna to actually grin. “My sob story is more of a lack of a story. I don’t know anything about my mom, or my life before camp. Someone took me to Lupa when I was a baby, and I spent a few years there until I was taken to New Rome. I couldn’t officially join the legion until I was ten, but I participated in the classes, some of the War Games, and the chores. When I turned ten I got to choose my cohort and fully join the legion.”

Reyna gave him a curious look, “You’re the son of Jupiter. You could have joined any cohort. Why would you join the Fifth? Evander said they’re—”

“Cursed? Failures? A bunch of losers?” Jason filled in.

Reyna frowned, “I was going to say ‘unlucky,’ but I guess if the shoe fits.”

Jason cracked a smile, “Yeah. It’s true, but they were the only ones who didn’t treat me like a celebrity or like they were scared of me because of my dad. Charlie treated me like a brother, and Dakota and Gwen became my friends when they joined later.”

“How old were you when your dad claimed you?” Reyna asked.

Jason shrugged, “He never officially did. Lupa brought me to camp and told them who I was.” Jason thought for a minute, “I guess she could have been wrong, but that would make the sparks hard to explain.”

“Maybe you’re a vampire… Sparkles.” Reyna teased.

He stuck out his tongue at her, and she actually laughed. “Well, I guess you’re right.” She said, suddenly serious again, “We have issues.”

Jason couldn’t help the snort that escaped at her deadpan, “Come on,” he said helping her to her feet, “We’ve got to get to Colorado.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

By the time they reached the base of the mountain, they were both starving. They had eaten the snacks that they packed in their backpacks, but neither of them had eaten an actual meal since yesterday morning before they drove up to San Francisco.

By the time they had reached a small town, Jason was starting to feel hangry. The sweet smell of pancakes and maple syrup wafted through the air from a small diner at the end of the street.

“We’re stopping.” Jason said, his stomach growling.

Reyna must have been just as hungry, because she didn’t argue. The sign above the diner was lit with neon lights despite it being almost ten in the morning. The sign read: Lyssa’s Loft. The pushed open the door, and a little bell twinkled above them. Even though it was a Saturday morning, the diner was empty.  

Reyna frowned, “Is it open?”

“Of course, we’re open, dear!” A woman’s voice shouted from the back.

“This doesn’t feel right.” Reyna whispered to Jason.

Jason felt a spark of annoyance at her. He knew it was just because it was hungry, but he couldn’t understand why she felt so paranoid. “It’s fine, we’re just getting breakfast.”

“Why aren’t there people here?” Reyna whispered back.

Before Jason could answer, a woman appeared from the kitchen. The woman had long dark hair and a kind face, but her skin was so unnaturally pale, she looked almost translucent.

Jason felt Reyna move unconsciously closer to him, her fingers grabbing at his sleeve. “We should go.” She whispered to him.

“Relax, it’s just breakfast. She looks friendly enough.” Jason muttered to her.

The woman pulled out a notepad from her apron, “You kids are so skinny. You must be hungry. Please, take a seat.”

Jason glanced at Reyna and shrugged, he didn’t know why she was feeling so paranoid, but he was hungry. Reyna followed him to the booth, but her eyes never left their host.

“My name’s Lyssa, I’ll be taking care of you kids today.” The woman said, “Would you like some pancakes and some eggs? Maybe some bacon as well? It’s our house specialty.”

Jason offered her a polite smile, “That sounds great. Thank you.”

Lyssa smiled warmly and rubbed Jason’s cheek affectionately. Jason tried to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. Her hands were like ice.

 She looked at Reyna, but Reyna had scooted into the booth as far from Lyssa as possible. Lyssa gave her a strange look, but then smiled, “I’ll get that order ready for you. You kids just hold tight.”

She went back to the kitchen, and Jason glared at Reyna, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you being so rude?”

“Jason, we need to get out of here.” Reyna said seriously, “There’s something not right about Lyssa. I don’t think she’s human.”

Reyna’s face was so serious, Jason almost listened to her, but then Lyssa came out with the food, and he completely forgot about what they were talking about. Even Reyna’s eyes lit up hungrily as Lyssa dropped the food off in front of them. It was enough to feed ten people. There was a mountain of fluffy pancakes that was almost higher than Jason’s head, there were fried and scrambled eggs, and a whole plate of crispy bacon and sausage.

“You kids enjoy.” Lyssa said, walking back to the kitchen.

Jason’s mouth watered just looking at it, and he quickly dug in.

“I guess we can eat first.” Reyna said, as she began stacking pancakes onto her plate.

They devoured as much as they could eat, but when they were full, they had hardly put a dent in the mountain of food.

“Are you kids done already?” Lyssa asked, disappointed, “You’re both so skinny, you should really eat more.”

Jason was so stuffed, he was certain if he tried to eat anymore he would throw up. “No thank you, ma’am. We’re very full. Could we get the bill please?”

“You don’t want any dessert?” she asked hopefully, “I have pie, cake, milkshakes…”

Reyna grimaced, “That won’t be necessary.”

Lyssa frowned, “Very well, I’ll be right back with your check.”

She headed back into the kitchen.

“I told you there was nothing to worry about. You were probably just hungry.” Jason said.

Reyna frowned, “I don’t know. I still have a weird feeling about this place.” She looked at all of the leftover food, “How much do you think all of this is going to cost?”

Jason frowned, he hadn’t really thought about that. Camp had given them some money for food and transportation, but this was a serious amount of food. He looked at his watch, it was already 11:30. They really needed to get going. He wondered what was taking Lyssa so long.

“It’s a little weird she hasn’t come back yet.” Jason admitted, “It’s not like she’s very busy.”

Reyna nodded in agreement. She stood up carefully, glancing toward the kitchen, but she couldn’t see Lyssa. She walked over to the door and tried pushing it open, but the door didn’t budge.

She glanced back at Jason, “It’s locked.”

Jason felt the blood drain from his face, and he jumped up and ran over to her, and tried the door himself. Sure enough, the door wouldn’t budge.

“Are you children planning on leaving without paying?” Lyssa spoke, suddenly appearing behind them, causing both of them to jump.

Jason could feel Reyna’s fingers digging into his arm. She was definitely right, there was something off about Lyssa.

“We uh…”

“You kids are so skinny.” Lyssa scolded, “Are you sure you won’t eat more?”

“No, actually ma’am, we’ve really got to get going.” Jason said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, “If we could just pay the bill, we’ll be on our way.”

“I hate when they’re too skinny. Never enough meat.” Lyssa spoke to herself, “Oh well.”

Suddenly she lunged at the two of them. Reyna pushed Jason one way, and she ran the other way, avoiding Lyssa.

Lyssa hissed at Reyna, and Jason noticed that her teeth had grown longer and sharper, like a shark. “You are a little brat.” Lyssa growled at Reyna, “I think I’ll eat you first.”

She lunged at Reyna, who just barely rolled out of the way in time, “No thank you.” Reyna said sprinting across the diner away from the monster, but Lyssa could apparently appear where she wanted, and she suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Reyna. Reyna tried to back pedal but slipped on the linoleum flood.

Jason flipped his sword and charged at the monster, but she disappeared again, reappearing across the diner. Luckily, she was far enough away that Reyna could recover. She jumped to her feet and ran toward the kitchen.

“Come on!” Reyna said, sprinting to the kitchen door.

Jason followed her, and they slammed the door. Jason could feel Lyssa banging on the door as she tried to break through.

“What is she?” Jason asked, unsure how long they could hold the door. He worried that she would use her powers and suddenly appear in the kitchen.

“I think she’s a Mormolyce.” Reyna said. She bit her tongue as she tried to think of a plan.

“Okay, better question, how do we defeat her?” Jason asked frantically as he felt the hinges on the door begin to give.

Reyna’s eyes scanned the kitchen, when she spotted an oven. It was a large, industrial-sized oven made of Celestial Bronze. Lyssa probably used it to bake her victims. Reyna’s eyes widened, she had an idea.

“Have you ever read Hansel and Gretel?” Reyna asked him.

Jason gave her an exasperated look, “What does that—” but then he spied the oven, “Oh.” He said, finally getting her plan, he looked at her, “Do you want to be Hansel or Gretel?”

“Coming here was your dumb idea.” Reyna pointed out angrily.

“But she hates you more.” Jason said honestly.

Reyna scowled, “Fine, but you better get her.”

Reyna crawled away from the kitchen door and quickly ran to the oven. She turned the dials to as hot as they would go, and she opened up the kitchen door, and waited in front of it.

“Ready?” Jason asked, unsure how much longer he could hold the door.

Reyna took a deep breath. She could feel the heat from the oven on her back, “Ready.”

He quickly jumped away from the door and ran over to the oven. Lyssa burst through the door. She looked around wildly, and her eyes narrowed as they landed on Reyna.

“You!” she screamed, and she charged toward Reyna.

Reyna waited until the last possible second, before jumping out of Lyssa’s way. Lyssa realized to late what had happened, as she tripped and fell into the open oven. Jason jumped out from behind the oven and shoved the monster’s legs into the oven before slamming the door and locking it, muffling Lyssa’s screams.

Jason slumped onto the floor, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He looked over at Reyna who was leaning against the large industrial-sized fridge.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked, when his voice finally returned.

She just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Jason let out a deep breath, “Good plan.” He said.

She stared at him, “That’s twice now that you haven’t listened to me and we’ve almost died. You’ve lost your veto privileges.”

Jason winced, she was right. She didn’t seem as angry as she probably should have been, but maybe that was because she was still recovering from shock over almost dying. “Sorry.” He said sheepishly, “At least we got a free meal out of it.”

Reyna stared at him, like she wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not. Lyssa’s screams finally stopped, and Jason peaked in the oven. There was nothing there but dust. He let out a sigh of relief and turned off the oven.

“Let’s get out of here.” Jason said.

“Finally, a plan I agree with.” Reyna said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! Does anyone have any good resolutions? Maybe mine will be to try to finish this fic (we'll see how motivated I am though). If you like this fic or have any feedback I'd love to hear it. Hope you all have a good start to 2020  
> ~AF


	8. VIII.

**VIII.**

“So, how are we supposed to get to Colorado from here?” Reyna asked as they walked down the dirt road that ran through the little mountain town, “Walking?”

Her shock over the diner incident had begun to fade and was replaced with irritation at Jason for not listening to her in the first place. If they had just gone straight to Colorado like she had said, they would have been significantly further along on their quest than they already were. She knew it wasn’t entirely his fault. Octavian had made a convincing argument to go to Mount Tam. But then they were attacked by Luke, and then the dragon, and then the Mormolyce. Reyna was getting annoyed.

“I was going to call, Charlie and see if he could give us a lift. I need to find a payphone first.” Jason said, nodding at the gas station payphone.

“Doesn’t he have orientation today?” Reyna pointed out, “And can’t monsters use phones to find demigods?”

Jason grumbled something not so polite under his breath, and Reyna rolled her eyes at him. “We need another plan,” she said.

“If you want to be quest leader, by all means, be my guest,” Jason snapped.

Reyna frowned, suddenly feeling a little guilty. She knew he felt bad enough about Mount Tam and the diner. And he hadn’t asked to be leader of their quest. “Sorry,” Reyna mumbled. “I’m just stressed.”

“Me too.” Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, making the blond strands stick up funny. They had already passed most of the main town buildings and were near the outskirts of the mountain town. He noticed an old pickup truck at a gas station at the end of the road. The truck had a bunch of old junk in the back and was tied down with a tarp pulled over it. A San Francisco State sticker was stuck to the rusted bumper.

Jason looked at Reyna who was watching him curiously, “I might have an idea.” He nodded toward the truck and glanced at Reyna, anxious about her reaction. He really wanted to be a good leader, but he knew if Reyna didn’t agree to his plan, he wouldn’t force it. So far, she had been right about Mount Tam and about the diner. If she thought this was a bad plan, he was going to listen to her this time.

“Look, I’ll trust your decision, but we really need to decide like now, because our truck driver is almost finished paying.” Jason said anxiously.

Reyna bit her lip, “I don’t like it, but—”

“ _But_ …” Jason prodded.

Reyna sighed, “But I don’t really have a better plan.”

Jason let out a sigh of relief, “Glad to hear it. Let’s go!”

They crept up behind the truck and looked into the store to make sure no one was watching. Luckily it was a small town without a lot of pedestrians, but Jason still felt anxious. They quickly hoisted themselves up into the bed of the truck and laid flat, so they wouldn’t be spotted by the truck driver. They were mostly covered by the tarp. The only way anyone would see them is if they were to look directly into the truck bed.

They heard the crunch of gravel as the driver returned to his truck. Jason closed his eyes and prayed to whatever god was in charge of hiding and sneaking that they wouldn’t be caught. But the driver never looked in the back. They heard the motor turn over, and soon they were leaving the mountain town behind.

“Now, we just have to hope he’s actually heading to San Francisco.” Reyna said, hoisting herself up onto her elbows.

Jason winced as they hit a pothole. It definitely wasn’t the most comfortable mode of transportation. They were lying on their stomachs on the hard truck bed to avoid being seen, but they were cramped from all of the junk already in the back.

“Even if he just goes somewhere we can call a taxi, that would be good.” Jason said.

“What if he goes to his house?” Reyna asked.

“We’ll jump out before then.” Jason reassured her.

Reyna seemed satisfied with his answer, and Jason watched as she closed her eyes and rested her head on her arms.

He winced as they hit another bump. “You can’t possibly be comfortable enough to sleep right now.”

Reyna opened one eye and glared at him, “I’m tired, and we’ve got a long ride to civilization, so shut up and let me sleep.”

“But it’s so uncomfortable,” Jason whined. He hated being cramped or in confined spaces. It made him twitchy. He liked to have space to move his legs. “And if you fall asleep, I’m going to be so bored.”

Reyna glared at him, and Jason knew he was being unfair. He had slept for almost the entire day yesterday, and she had only slept for a few hours last night. He should really let her sleep.

“Fine, go ahead and sleep,” he sighed. “I’ll wake you up when we need to go.”

She didn’t respond, and Jason almost couldn’t believe his eyes when he looked over and she was already asleep. _I guess she really did revoke my veto privileges._

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

An hour later, they had finally reached civilization again. They weren’t quite in San Francisco city proper, but they were in a busy sea town probably twenty minutes away.

Jason was ready to get out of the truck. He was fairly certain his ribs were going to be bruised from banging against the truck bed so many times. He didn’t know how Reyna was able to sleep. She must have really been exhausted.

He nudged her, and instantly her eyes were open and alert. “We should probably try to get out soon.” Jason said, “We’re in a busy area. We should be able to get a taxi to take us to the airport.”

Reyna nodded and propped herself up on her elbows to peer out of the back of the truck. “Let’s go now. We’re slowing down and there’s no one behind us.”

They quickly crawled out of the back of the truck, careful so the driver wouldn’t spot them. The truck was still moving, but it was going slow enough that they were able to jump out relatively easily.

Unfortunately, the driver must have noticed them from his mirrors. He instantly slammed on the breaks, and quickly got out of his truck, “What the hell do you kids think you’re doing?” the man yelled.

“Run!” Jason said, taking off down the street in the opposite direction of truck, Reyna was fast behind him.

The man ran after them, but they quickly rounded a corner that turned onto a busier intersection and were able to lose him in the crowd.

As the two caught their breath, Jason couldn’t help but laugh as the adrenaline wore off. Reyna gave him a curious look, but he saw that even she was smiling. She shook her head and started walking down the street, “Come on, we need to find a taxi.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *        *

“In here.” Jason said, ducking into a building. Reyna gave Jason a questioning look as he led them into a local library. The building had a modern exterior and was pretty empty except for a few old people and a few mothers with their toddlers.

“We need to buy plane tickets.” Jason explained as he walked over to the computer lab, “I really doubt they’ll just let two thirteen-year-olds buy a plane ticket at the airport.”

“Will they even let us check-in without an adult?” Reyna asked, sitting next to him at the computer.

Jason faltered, he hadn’t thought about that, “I guess we’ll see.”

“Good plan.” Reyna said dryly.

Sometimes Jason could appreciate Reyna’s dry sarcasm, but there were other times where she made him feel just plain dumb. But it didn’t bother him like it should have. There was something refreshing about having someone call him out when he was being stupid. Reyna definitely did it enough.

He quickly booked two tickets, typing in the Camp Jupiter credit card information and then printing out their itinerary. He handed Reyna her ticket.

Reyna studied the ticket, “You couldn’t find a direct flight?”

Jason looked at his own ticket, they had an hour layover in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “A lot of the tickets for today were sold out. This was one of the only ones left.”

“Okay.” Reyna said, “We should get going then. Our flight leaves soon.”

They quickly left library and were able to hail a taxi without any problems or running into any monsters. As they walked into the airport departure terminal, Jason really hoped that he would be able to get them onto the airplane. He knew the mist would be able to disguise their camp IDs to make them look like valid IDs, but he wasn’t sure if they would actually let them board.

They approached the counter where a scowling woman with red hair and drawn on eyebrows was watching them skeptically. Jason tried to not feel intimidated as he handed her his and Reyna’s itineraries and IDs.

She eyed the documents and scanned her eyes over the two of them. “Where are your parents.”

“Colorado.” Jason said, the lie coming to him quickly. “They had to catch an earlier flight. Our Aunt called customer service and they said we could just check in.”

The woman studied him and Reyna, “You two have the same parents?” she asked skeptically.

Jason winced, of course he and Reyna looked nothing alike. Thankfully, Reyna seemed to be one step ahead of him.

“Our parents divorced.” Reyna said quickly, “And then my dad remarried his mom. We’re half-siblings. And we’re really in a rush, our flight leaves soon, and our parents will be very angry if they find out you didn’t let us on our flight.”

The lady balked, but then put on her best customer service face, “Very well then. But since you are both under 14, you’ll be provided an escort to make sure you make it safely back to your parents.”

Jason scowled, he knew he should have gone with Southwest. “Fine.”

They were met by a twenty-something-year-old man who looked like he’d much rather be doing anything than babysitting two middle schoolers. “Hi, I’m Jeff, I’ll be watching you kids until you board your flight.” He mumbled, sounding like he would actually die of boredom, “Please follow me.”

Reyna rolled her eyes at Jason, but they followed the escort as he led them through security and to their gate. Thankfully, the metal detectors didn’t detect Imperial Gold or Stygian Iron, otherwise they have had a lot of explaining to do to the TSA.

They sat in the silence at the gate lounge, waiting for boarding to start. Jeff, their escort, ignored them as he scrolled through his phone. Unfortunately, Jason was sure if they tried to ditch him, they would definitely not be allowed to get on their flight. He glanced over at Reyna, who was fidgeting restlessly in her seat.  He knew demigods almost always had ADHD, but Reyna always seemed so calm and collected, that it never occurred to him that she would have it too.

“Stop twitching, you’re making me anxious.” Jason said to her in Latin.

She scowled, and Jason rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t like waiting.” She grumbled, but she wasn’t looking at Jason, her eyes were focused on a spot behind him.

Suddenly she jumped to her feet, “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

 “Okay, don’t get lost. Be back here in five minutes.” Jeff said blandly, not looking up from his phone. 

Jason gave her a curious look, but she didn’t give him any answers. “I’ll be right back.” She said in Latin.

As minutes passed by, Jason felt more and more anxious. Where was Reyna? And what had she seen? Their flight was about to begin boarding, and Jeff looked at his watch irritably.

“Where’s your sister?” he asked impatiently, “You don’t think she got lost, do you?”

“I really hope not.” Jason said, but then he spotted Reyna walking back in their direction. She had two coffee cups in her hands.

“You told me you were going to the bathroom.” Jeff scowled, “And you come back with coffee?”

“It’s hot chocolate actually.” Reyna said smoothly. She handed a cup to Jason, “We’re being followed.” She said quietly in Latin so only he could hear.

Jason’s eyes widened, and he glanced around trying to figure out who could be following them, “Who?”

“Hey, quit with the foreign-speak.” Jeff said, “Come on, you two need to board now.”

Jason wanted Reyna to elaborate, but Jeff took them to the ticket counter, and then they were escorted onto the airplane. Because they had booked the tickets so late, their seats were far apart from each other. Reyna was a few rows in front of him, but he couldn’t see her over the seats. He just had to hope whatever was after them would wait until after the plane landed before it attacked them. The thought didn’t really comfort him.

“After the flight, please wait in the first row, and someone from the crew will escort you to your next gate.” One of the flight attendants said with a smile.

Jason nodded. They had probably told Reyna the same thing. She would wait for him after the flight. Jason watched as people boarded the plane. None of them really _seemed_ like monsters. He really wondered what Reyna had seen that made her think they were being followed.

After what seemed like a life time, the plane finally took off. The flight was short enough, but Jason couldn’t relax. He wondered if whatever was following them was on the plane with them, or if they had left it in San Francisco.

Two and a half hours later, they were touching down in Albuquerque, and Jason felt his jitters finally leaving him. He waited a bit for the passengers to exit the plane before he made his way toward the front. He passed by the seat where Reyna had been sitting and frowned when she wasn’t there. _She must already be waiting up front._ Jason thought to himself. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that began to build up.

As he got to the front of the plane, he realized his fears were confirmed; Reyna was gone.


End file.
